The immigration of young men and families to (what is now) Canada has been a major a feature in the history of Ulster dating back to the 18th Century. Such was the Ulster-influence on Canada, that in the 1920s the rate of membership of the Orange Order in Newfoundland was almost double that in Northern Ireland! There were of course many reasons for the movement of so many people across the Atlantic, though mainly those were religious and/or economic.
As a British Dominion, Canada was of course fertile ground
for football as it established itself as the UK’s favourite sport. Indeed, in
1859 one of the earliest reported games there saw a team of Irishmen take on
members of the St. George’s Society in Toronto – two decades before football
had been formally organised back on the Auld Sod. Due to the vastness of
Canada, the organisation of football was on a regional/provincial/territorial basis. Teams that toured
to the British Isles in 1888 and 1891, though dubbed Canada, were selected by
the (confusingly named) Western FA and contained “ringers” from the north-east of the USA.
Canada (represented by Galt FC who featured two Scottish-born
players) won the gold medal at the 1904 St Louis Olympics even before the Dominion
of Canada Football Association (now the Canadian Soccer Association) was
founded in 1912. The Dominion of
Canada Championship/Connaught Series saw regional “champions” face-off. The (Canadian)
National Soccer League was founded in 1926, but only included teams from
Ontario and Quebec.
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| Canada Soccer Hall of Fame |
While a number of players have continued to leave these
shores, notably to the NASL and MLS, the flow of players now goes both ways
across the Atlantic. Further, a number of families who had sought to settle in
Canada have returned to the homeland of their ancestors, such as the Canadian-born
Terry Moore, Jimmy Nicholl and Alan Mannus all moving to Northern Ireland as
children before embarking on successful playing careers. More recently Caolan Lavery, a player with Northern Irish parentage, moved to the UK solely to advance his playing career.
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Notable Players (pre-WW2):
[Trophies: [Duke of] Connaught Cup (1913-1925)/FA Challenge Trophy
(1926-1939, suspended in 1940 due to WW2) (Connaught Series/Dominion of Canada
Championship); Lord Atholstan Cup (CNSL Play-Off Winners, 1926-1941, 1947-1950);
Ontario Cup (1901-date, oldest soccer competition in North America); Manitoba
Cup (1909-1939)]
---
LESLIE
ADGEY (Leslie Edmund Adgey) [half-back / inside-forward]
b. Belfast, c.1894; d. Toronto, 12 May 1918 (age 24, pneumonia)
Club Career: Toronto Eaton’s, Toronto Ulster,
Winnipeg Britannia (1916), Toronto Ulster
JOHNNY “Mighty
Atom” AIKEN (John Aiken) [inside-right] (CNSL)
b. Ballymena, 13 January 1913; d. 12 May 1968, Toronto (age
55). Wt: 9st 4lb/59 kg
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United 1934; Rochester
Kodak Park (1935/36); Toronto Ulster United (1937-1941, then manager)
Representative Honours: Ontario All-Stars (1937, 1939)
Club Honours: CNSL 1934, 1938, Ontario Cup 1937;
(as manager) Dominion Championship 1946, 1951; Ontario Major Soccer
League 1946, Consols Cup 1946, Dunlop Cup 1946, Harris
Trophy 1946
The son of Ballymena’s head postman, Aiken was just 17 when
he travelled to Canada in 1930. His slight frame and playing style brought
comparisons to Patsy “The Mighty Atom” Gallagher. He represented Ontario
against Charlton Athletic in 1937, scoring in a 6-1 defeat, and against a touring
Scotland XI two years later. A two-time National League winner, he finally claimed the Dominion Cup as a player-manager in 1946 then again as manager in 1951. His most
successful year was 1946 when he led Ulster to a clean-sweep of all honours.
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BILL BROLLY
(William Scott Brolly) [centre-half] (CS)
b. Limavady, 31 October 1904; d. Winnipeg, 1 August 1960
(age 55)
Club Career: Winnipeg Irish; City Dairy
Club Honours: Manitoba Cup 1931
Representative Honours: Canada (1927), Winnipeg
All-Stars (1926)
A “tower of strength in attack or defence” the “big Irishman”
was part of the Canada side that toured New Zealand in 1927. He played in 14 of
the 23 matches, scoring seven times (including a four-goal haul against
Southland), and even missed a penalty against Canterbury. Four of the matches
were international fixtures, resulting in two wins, a draw, and a defeat. He
also played for Winnipeg All-Stars against a touring England team in 1926. A
policeman by day, he won the Manitoba Cup with Irish in 1931. He scored for
City Dairy in the opening game of the 1935 Manitoba final series but was
withdrawn injured in the third and final game as United Weston claimed the cup.
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JOE CLULOW
(Joseph Benjamin Clulow) [centre-half / half-back] (CNSL / HoF)
b. Belfast, 4 Feb 1900; d. Toronto, 10 Nov 1975 (age 75,
cancer)
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United (1924-1929); Holly
Carburettors (1929), Fall River, New Bedford Whalers (1929/30), Toronto CNR,
Toronto Inglis, McIntyre Mines (1933), Toronto British Consols (1935-1937),
Cleveland Slavia (1935/36).
Representative Honours: Canada 1926 (call-up,
unused); Ontario All-Stars, Toronto All-Stars, NSL All-Stars
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1925; CNSL
1926, 1937; Ontario Cup 1927, 1929, 1935, 1936
Emigrated to Toronto in 1920 age 20, and made his mark with Ulster United, winning the Connaught Cup in 1925. By 1926 he was described as “the best half back in Canada” by the Brooklyn Citizen and was called into the Canada side to face the USA that November, though he didn’t play. He did make multiple representative team appearances, facing the English FA (1926 & 1931), Welsh FA (1929) and Scottish FA (1935) touring sides as well as Rangers (1929) and Charlton Athletic (1937). His “husky centre-half” play saw him win honours with British Consols into his late-30s.
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b. Aghalee, 09 Sep 1899, Aghalee; d. Brockville, Ontario
Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1925), 1 Amateur Cap (1921); NSL All-Stars
Club Career: Willowfield; Linfield; Queen's Island; Toronto Ulster United (1927-1928)
Club Honours: Ontario Cup 1927
A multi-honoured winger from his time with Linfield and Queen's Island. Tommy arrived in Canada on 26th June 1927. On 2nd July he played for a National League XI against a touring Hakoah Wien side before he even made his Ulster United debut. He also featured against Rangers that same month.
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b. Banbridge, 16 Apr 1902; d. Winnipeg, 28 Jul 1970 (age 68)
Club Career: Winnipeg United Weston FC (1923-1926);
Winnipeg CPR; Fort Rouge Rangers; Winnipeg Scottish
Representative Honours: Winnipeg All-Stars 1926;
Manitoba All-Stars 1929
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1924, 1926;
Manitoba Cup 1923
Derby’s father died when he was a young boy and he emigrated
to Winnipeg at the age of 17. He “backstopped” for United Weston in two Dominion
Championship winning campaigns, keeping four clean sheets from six games in the
1924 campaign and three from eight in 1926. It was in the third replay of the
1926 that he put in “one of the most brilliant games of his career” as the
Connaught Series was won 1-0 in the final minute against Cumberland Canadian
Collieries. In 1926 he featured for a Winnipeg XI twice against a touring English
FA XI. Such was his performance in the first of these matches , a 2-1 defeat, that
it was reported “that the Englishmen were all for kidnapping him and him home
with them.” He also featured against a touring Corinthians side in 1924 and the
Welsh FA in 1929. As well as his successes in the Connaught Series he played in
four Manitoba Cup finals, 1923, 1924, 1929 (with Canadian Pacific Railways) and
1931 (with Rangers) but won only the first of these. He played many times
alongside his elder brother, Jimmy.
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b. Banbridge, c.1899; d. ?
Club Career: Winnipeg United Weston FC (1922-1925)
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1924,
Manitoba Cup 1923
Older brother of Eddie Derby, Jimmy played alongside his
brother in the 1923 Manitoba Cup and 1924 Connaught Cup successes.
---
GEORGE
GOUDY [outside-right]
b. Belfast (tbc), c.1899 (tbc); d. ?
Club Career: Montreal CPR (1923)
Club Honours: -
Made the 1923 Dominion Championship as a member of the Montreal
CPR team who were Western Champions, but lost out to Eastern Champions Nanaimo
over three games in the Connaught Cup final.
---
b. Portrush (or Londonderry?); d. 30 Jan 1991
Club Career: Edmonton Canadian Legion (1932);
Edmonton Radials (1934); Edmonton Civics (1936-1939)
Representative Honours: Alberta All-Stars (1939)
Club Honours: Campbell Cup 1936, 1937
Brother of George and Jimmy, like Jimmy, Bobby Graham was gifted
at soccer and hockey. Played in four Dominion Championships, scoring three
times in eight matches, but never made it beyond the quarter-final stage. He enjoyed
more success in the Alberta FA’s Campbell Cup, playing in three consecutive finals
from 1936-1937, winning the first two. Represented Alberta against the Scottish
FA in 1939.
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b. Portrush, 04 Jan 1902; d. Toronto, 07 Aug 1966. Wt: 12st/76kg
Club Career: Marshall Wells (1918); Hudson
Bay; Edmonton South Side; Calgary CPR (1923) ; Vancouver St Andrews; Cumberland
FC (1924); New Bedford (1926); Philadelphia (1925/26 10 apps/8 gls); Trenton
(loan) (1926); Toronto Ulster United (1926-1927); Fall River (1927/28 30 apps/17
gls); Brooklyn Wanderers (1927/28 4 apps/2 gls); Toronto Ulster United (1928-1934);
Rochester Kodak Park (1934/35); Toronto Ulster United (1935); Rochester Kodak
Park (1935/36); Toronto Ulster United (1936-1945)
Club Honours: CNSL 1926, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1941; Ontario
Cup 1929, 1937, 1938; Black Cup 1923
Representative Honours: Canada 1 cap/1 gl (1926 vs USA, 1927 vs
USA [w/d]); Edmonton All-Stars (1924); Ontario All-Stars (1926, 1927, 1929, 1931);
NSL All-Stars (1931); Toronto All-Stars (1935); Eastern Canada All-Stars (1935)
Moved to Canada with his family in July 1914* and became one
of the most prolific goalscorers of his era. As well as 13 goals in 18 games in
the Connaught Series, he is known to have scored over 300 career goals in
Canada and the USA and courted the attentions of Scottish clubs. In 1926 he
scored for Canada against the US at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, and was due to play
again the following year but had to withdraw. In 1937, aged 35, he was
topscorer at the Dominion Championship but Ulster United fell just short of the
title, losing the third game in the finals. Although the Connaught Series eluded
him, he did claim multiple honours, including five National League titles, and
scored in the in the 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935 finals. Among
his most celebrated goals were those against touring sides of the English FA,
Scottish FA, Hakoah Wien, Corinthians, Kilmarnock and Rangers.
---
b. Portrush, 1905; d. Edmonton, 27 Oct 1962
Club Career: South Side (1924); Edmonton CNR
(1926-1931); Edmonton Canadian Legion (1932); Edmonton City (1933); Edmonton
Radials (1934); Edmonton Civics (1937-1939)
Representative Honours: Edmonton All-Stars 1924,
1926, 1929, 1931; Alberta All-Stars 1935
Club Honours: Campbell Cup 1937, 1939
Moved to Edmonton as a boy with his parents and brothers, George and Bobby. He played soccer in the summer and hockey in the winter. He
featured in a number of All-Star line-ups against touring England, Wales and
Scotland XIs. As a hockey player he won multiple honours and toured Europe. Later
he coached Canada (represented by Edmonton Waterloo Mercurys) to the World Hockey Championship in 1950. Truly a multi-talented sportsman, he was noted as
a good baseball player, won the Edmonton Senior’s Golf Championship, and was posthumously
inducted into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1965.
---
BOBBY
HUME (Robert Hume) [outside/inside-left] (CSH)
b. Randalstown; d. ???
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United FC (1935-1946)
Representative Honours: -
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1946, CNSL
1934, 1941, Ontario Cup 1937,
Played in National Soccer League finals for Ulster United in
1934, 1935 and 1941, winning the first and last of those. Scored in the opening match of
the 1937 Dominion Championship final against Johnston National, but it wasn’t
enough to help Ulster to the title. Played against a touring Corinthians team
in 1938, and after the Second World War finally claimed a Dominion Championship
title, finishing as top scorer, in Ulster’s success.
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JIMMY KELLY (James Kelly) [inside-forward] (wiki)
b. ???; d. ???
Club Career: Bangor; St Johnston (1922); Toronto Ulster United; Fall River Marksmen (1926/27-1927/28 67 apps/15 gls)
Club Honours: USA National Challenge Cup 1927
Jimmy Kelly had already played for Bangor and St Johnstone before moving to Canada. After a spell at Ulster United, he played for Fall River in the USA. In May 1927 he was among the scorers as Holly Carburetor were routed 7-0 in the US National Challenge Cup final. In June 1928 he played in a scoreless draw with Rangers, but shortly thereafter he left the American Soccer League.
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b. Lisburn, c.1895; Toronto, 03 Nov 1955 (age 60)
Representative Honours: All-Canada (1921 [w/d]); Toronto All-Stars (1919, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1927); Ontario All-Stars (1927)
Club Career: Toronto Dunlops; Toronto Ulster United (1922-1925); Craigavon (1927); Detroit (1928); Holley Carburetor
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1925; Carls-Rite Cup 1919, 1921, 1925
Moved to Toronto at a young age along with brothers, Phil and Albert. In 1925 he captained Ulster United to the Connaught Cup, scoring both goals in the final, a 2-0 win over Nanaimo Wanderers. He did blot his copy in the second-half when he was "ejected", one of four players sent-off in the match! Noted as "the best exponent of the forward pivotal position" in Canada "with a bullet-like shot." Bobby and Phil had both featured in the 1922 Championship when the Ulstermen finished runners-up. With Toronto All-Stars he claimed three Inter-City Carls-Rite Cups and also played against the Scottish FA (1921, 1927), the English FA (1926), and Hakoah Wien (1927). In 1921 he had been due to play for a Canadian XI to face the Scottish FA, but was unable to travel. After moving to Detroit in 1928 he featured against a touring Glasgow Rangers.
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PHIL LAVERY (Philip Lavery) [centre-forward]
b. Belfast (tbc), 07 Jun 1897; d. 03 Sep 1951 (age 54)
Representative Honours: Ontario All-Stars (1921), Eastern Canada All-Stars (1926); Toronto All-Stars (1926, 1927)
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United (1921-1925); Craigavon (1927)
Club Honours: Dominion Championship 1925; Carls Rite Cup 1927
Younger brother of Bobby, the duo played together in Ulster United's 1925 Connaught Series win.
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BERT LUMSDEN (Robert Lumsden) [right-half / centre-half]
b. "grew up in Ireland"; d. ???
Representative Honours:
Club Career: Montreal CNR (1928-1930); Montreal Aldred Building (1935); Notre Dame de Grace (1936); Montreal Carsteel (1939)
Club Honours: NSL 1928; Dominion Championship 1935; Quebec Cup 1928, 1936
When Montreal Aldred claimed the Dominion Championship in 1935 it took them 11 matches, more than for any previous winner, and Bert Lumsden played in every one of them. Not only had the competition been expanded to include more teams, but the finals series went to four matches! It had been a long road for Lumsden, who had first featured for Candian National Railway in the 1928 Championships when he had to make do with a runners-up spot. That season he did claim a National Soccer League title, with the finals held over to April/May 1929. In 1939 he again played in the Connaught Series finals, but again lost out as Vancouver Radials defeated Carsteel over four matches.
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WHITEY McDONALD
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JACK MATEER (-) [goalkeeper]
b. Belfast, 1912; d. 22 Jan 1972 (age c.55)
Representative Honours:
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United (1939)
Club Honours:
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ALLAN MATHIESON
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GEORGE SINGLETON (-) [centre-half / right0half]
b. Ballymena, 7 Dec 1907; d. 31 Dec 1951 (age 47, heart attack)
Representative Honours:
Club Career: Toronto Ulster United (1937)
Club Honours:
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JOE THOMPSON (-) [left-half / right-half]
b. Ireland, ???; d. ???
Representative Honours:
Club Career: Edmonton CNR (1929)
Club Honours:
-
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Notable Players (post-WW2):
BOB ARMSTRONG (cnsl)
KEN BEATTIE (cnsl)
DANNY BLANCHFLOWER (cnsl)
BOBBY CAMPBELL
TOMMY CASEY
WINSTON CLAYTON (cnsl)
WILBUR CUSH (cnsl)
JIM FEENEY (cnsl) (cnsl)
DARYL FORDYCE
ROBBIE GARETT
TERRY HARKIN
BOB KELLY (cnsl)
CAOLAN LAVERY
PAUL MALONE (cnsl)
ALAN MANNUS
HAROLD MARTIN (cnsl)
PAUL MUNSTER
JIMMY NICHOLL (cnsl)
BERTIE PEACOCK
BRIAN QUINN (cnsl)
ROY REA (cnsl)
ERNIE STANFIELD (cnsl)
JOHNNY STEELE
ALBERT WATSON
SYD WEATHERUP (cnsl)
[more to follow]
Sources/Links:
- The Connaught Series 1913-1939 [Canada Soccer, 2017]
- Canadian National Soccer League 1926-1927
- Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
- Canadian Soccer History: The Colin Jose Project
- Winnipeg Tribune (various editions 1914-1918)
- The Canadian Club Championship 1984-2008
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